Pressed into action against Carolina, Matt Leinart (7) wasn't able to lead the Raiders to a touchdown.

Photo: Streeter Lecka, Getty Images

Pressed into action against Carolina, Matt Leinart (7) wasn't able...

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Fullback Marcel Reece runs between San Diego's Takeo Spikes (51) and Atari Bigby (26) in the second quarter of the Oakland Raiders game against the San Diego Chargers in Oakland, Calif. on Monday, Sept. 10, 2012.

Greg Knapp is not a glass-half-full kind of guy. The Raiders' offensive coordinator is a two-drops-full guy, always seemingly smiling and finding the best in a circumstance, even if the circumstances are as bad as his offense has been.

Oakland (4-11) lost starting quarterback Carson Palmer to cracked ribs last week and is trying to figure out whom to play instead Sunday - journeyman Matt Leinart or raw, unproven Terrelle Pryor.

"I've had a mobile quarterback and a pocket quarterback when I was in Atlanta, with Mike Vick and Matt Schaub," Knapp said. "It's a very similar mind-set for me in that you have to have a little bit of a game plan for both available."

Leinart and Pryor have split snaps in practice this week, and head coach Dennis Allen said he would probably pick a starter after Friday's practice.

Normally, a team would turn to its running game to shoulder more of the load when the starting quarterback is out, but the Raiders are ranked 29th in the NFL in rushing (87 yards per game).

Darren McFadden, just last year one of the best running backs in the league, has looked lost in Knapp's zone-blocking scheme. Only seven players since 2000 have had as many carries as McFadden (197) has this season with a lower average yardage per carry than his 3.30.

The Raiders have 61 points in the past five games, haven't scored a touchdown in two games and haven't rushed for a touchdown in nine games. A quarterback who can run might help close to the goal line, and it turns out Oakland has one.

Knapp was asked why he hasn't used Pryor - who has been in for three plays in each of the past two games - more in the red zone to help jump-start the struggling offense.

"Our biggest issue is that I don't think we've been down there enough," Knapp said. "The fact that we haven't been down there as much, I need to devote more time to getting us down there.

"So, third downs have been more of an emphasis for us to try to work on, so we haven't developed as big of a red-zone package because of that issue."

That could explain why the Raiders are 31st in the league in red-zone efficiency, scoring touchdowns on 38.5 percent of their trips inside the 20.

Unfortunately, the focus on third downs is not paying off, as the Raiders are ranked 27th in the league in getting first downs on those.

In the one area they were doing well, on 3rd-and-1, they were 15-of-19 before Sunday's loss at Carolina. Oakland was 0-for-2 there, trying a pitch left to McFadden on one that lost 5 yards.

Why not run straight ahead? Because that was working too much, Knapp said.

"We were doing really good," he said. "In my mind as the play caller, the last one we called the week before was a straight-ahead dive with the lead back, and we got stuffed. I went back and looked at our tendencies, and we had done that quite a bit.

"So we took a calculated risk on the first 3rd-and-1 to show the quick-hitter to Marcel (Reece) inside and try to pitch Darren outside. Greg Hardy made a great play as a defensive end and stopped the flip play."

Meanwhile, the Raiders placed veteran defensive tackle Richard Seymour on injured reserve Thursday. The seven-time Pro Bowler has not played since Nov. 4 because of a lingering hamstring issue and will become a free agent.